One weekend in November we (some of the people from Youth for Conservation) had a goal of walking Sirimon route up to the Lenana peak at 4.985 meters.Saturday
Hike for 9 kms to old Moses (3300 M). It was an easy hike which took less than four hours. Sunday
Hike 14 Kms to Shiptons camp (4200 M) for dinner and overnight (half the night’s sleep). Most of us felt a little bit tired after a seven hours walk. But we couldn’t think of that now we had to prepare for the day of tomorrow… Monday
Attempt Lenana peak at 3.00 a.m. (4-km) Night expedition is preferably because you would have a hard time to sleep anyway and it’s easier to walk on the snow when it’s still cold and icy. We woke up at 02.30am for some tea and then we started walking in the snowstorm… At an elevation of 4.300m the trail steepened, the last vestiges of plant life are left behind and the surface underfoot changes from hard-packed gravel and rock to ice and snow. Walking is no longer so easy. The feet tend to slide away beneath you, and each step requires not only the effort of raising the weight of the body that little way up the mountain, but also the effort of kicking the boot into the scree…Finally we were all up! We had now conquered the Mountain! Most of us were doing well but one or two had some problems with the altitude. The way down was harder than we thought it would be mostly because of all snow, but we all made it more or less alive and we went back to Shipton Camp for meals and a good rest. Tuesday
We descend to the gate (a six hour walk) and headed back to Nairobi. We all had a great weekend with lots of fun! What you usually do during a hike like this one is to start planing for the next one. Most of us will go to Mt Elgon in January… I’m going to Mt Kili in December…To the people organizing this trip – you are the best!
Frank – thank you So much. I’ll see you around!

Joakim Gustatone – from Germany